Infant deaths 'govt-made tragedy', Yogi should not cover up: Rahul

Gorakhpur (UP): Terming the deaths of scores of children at a state-run hospital here as a "government made tragedy", Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should not try to cover up the matter.

"All those whom I met told me that oxygen shortage led to the death of their children. Many families were given ambu bags (a manual resuscitator) and they pumped it for hours...It is very clear that it government-made tragedy," Gandhi said.

The government should take action in the matter and not try to cover it up, he said. It is absolutely clear that oxygen shortage and laxity were the reasons behind the tragedy, he told reporters after meeting family members of the victims.

"The chief minister should not try to cover up (the matter) and action should be taken against the guilty. This is my message," the Congress vice-president asserted.

Gandhi said that he had visited the BRD medical college and hospital here earlier as well and had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the media that it needs funds as there were too many shortages. But no action was taken, he rued.

There have been scores of encephalitis related child deaths in the BRD medical college hospital in recent days triggering a nation-wide outrage.

"Modiji speaks of a new India. This kind of new India we do not want. We want hospitals where poor people can take their children (for treatment) and come back happily," Gandhi said. He complimented the media for raising the issue.

"...I want to thank them for this (highlighting the issue)...it is not a matter concerning Uttar Pradesh but is a national tragedy. It is indicative of the health care of the country," he said.

Hitting back at the chief minister for his barb, the Congress said it only reflects the pettiness and panic that Rahul Gandhi's visit will ensure justice to the victims.

"The chief minister took no action and he wants to divert the issue...he is belittling the position that he holds by such petty statements...Rahulji has come here to share the the pain of the poor...but asking why he has come only indicated the pettiness of the chief minister and panic that his visit will ensure justice," said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee(UPCC) president Raj Babbar.

Babbar along with other senior leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad and RPN singh accompanied Gandhi. The Congress vice-president visited the villages to meet families of the children who lost their lives and assured full support besides taking up the matter with officials concerned to check the recurrence of the deadly disease.

The Congress has targeted the Aditynath Government over the deaths following allegations that the children who were critically ill succumbed due to oxygen shortage.

AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi also hit back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for targeting Rahul Gandhi over his visit to Gorakhpur, saying the eastern Uttar Pradesh town was not a "picnic spot", but "a spot of virtual murder".

Singhvi said the chief minister was the Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur where the tragedy took place, and accused him of reducing the debate over medical negligence to such "cheap politicking".